Zakrzówek

What makes it special

The water stays cold and clear even on a hot day, and the quarry reaches about 32 metres at its deepest. Its colour comes from the limestone once dug here, and from the rim it looks more like the Croatian coast than a city park.

The floating pools sit in the smaller section of the lake. You swim in open quarry water inside a lifeguarded frame, with the cliffs reflected around you. In the woods beside the quarry, local legend puts the sorcerer Pan Twardowski in a cave.

The pit flooded in 1990 once quarrying stopped. After a run of serious accidents it was fenced off and swimming was banned, until the redevelopment turned it into the supervised park you walk into today.

Visiting

From Wyłom Street, two entrances lead into the bathing area. The one by the food trucks and ice cream stands has stairs only; the one by the entrance building has stairs and a lift. At the gate you are given a wristband, which lets you leave and come back without queuing again.

Toilets and the food stands are near the entrance. Then pick your basin by depth: the children's wading area is 40 cm deep and marked with white buoys, and the two deepest basins are for swimmers only.

You swim only inside the marked basins, never in the open lake beyond them. Check the flag before you get in: white means swimming is allowed, red means it is not, and no flag means the pools are closed.

Outside the bathing season the pools are shut and the visit becomes a walk. Paths for walking, running and cycling circle the quarry, with picnic spots and climbing walls, the only places you may climb. Where the trees clear on the rim, you can sometimes see the outline of Wawel Castle across the city.

Tips

Bring a towel or mat and, for a long stay, a beach umbrella: the only seating is wooden decking and there is little shade. The pool at the far end keeps its shade longest. Wear beach shoes on the pontoons.

Bring your own food for a long afternoon; the stands by the entrance sell snacks if you run short. Children under 13 must be with an adult. Dogs stay out of the bathing area, apart from assistance dogs.